When I say “I quit my job and booked a flight to Vegas,” people’s eyes grow wide and then one of two things happens. They either think I’m joking and laugh, or immediately think I have lost my mind. Well, I may have lost my mind, but I’m not joking.

A little over a year ago, I started working at an agency that I loved. Social work has always interested me, so I jumped at the chance to work with foster children and their biological parents. After losing my mom in June of 2017, I needed to invest in other people so I didn’t get lost in myself. Fresh out of the worst trauma of my life, I dove into a job where my clients were fresh out of theirs. This was an experience unlike any I have ever had.

The job was great. It challenged me to do things I never thought I could do. My supervisors were always there to encourage me when I was too scared to do something. In the beginning, things were really good. Challenging, but good.

Over the course of the year, my life changed and I grew tired of certain aspects of the job. Positions like these have a fairly high turnover rate due to burnout. Some types of burnout can be avoided. For example, my supervisors did a great job of taking workers off cases that were not working for them. Unfortunately, the factors contributing to my burnout were unavoidable. One issue I had was with scheduling. Since I worked with real people who have real lives, I had to work around their schedules. This meant that my schedules were constantly changing, sometimes week by week. My supervisors and coworkers tried their best to help cover days off, but it was hard to never know when I would be working.

Because of this and other factors, my loved ones started noticing my depression and anxiety growing worse. I spent a lot of time during the day lying around and crying. My sister told me several times that I needed to find something else. My dad, my boyfriend, my Bible study friends, and my therapist were all gently suggesting I needed to find something else as well. The breaking point, for me, came in the form of a text and a chubby baby boy.

Monique and I have been friends since August of 2008. We met on the first day of seventh grade and have been friends ever since. Our friendship is so special and so wonderful. We had talked about spending our 10th friend anniversary together and when she told me she was pregnant, I got even more excited and determined to make the trip happen.

Monique and her husband, Nick, welcomed Arlyn Nicholaus on March 30th, 2018. I wanted to fly out there immediately and meet him, but I was scared. I have never flown alone and I was also in the middle of a demanding case at the time. Besides, they had family coming to see them and more coming after that. I didn’t go.

Fast forward to August 26th. Monique and I were texting and she sent me a cute photo of Arlyn. I couldn’t believe I still hadn’t seen him in person. Monique texted me that she couldn’t believe we weren’t spending our 10th friend anniversary together. This was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. The next day, I made the decision to quit my job and also to go see Nick, Monique, and Arlyn. Oh, did I mention they live in a town outside Las Vegas?

Less than 24 hours after I sent in my resignation, I booked a flight to Las Vegas. I’m leaving on Friday and I’m so excited!

And yes, I’m job searching. I’ll update when I have one!